Our weekly app picks
It's and that means we're back with more of our favorites to share. Every week we bring a handful of great apps to the table and share them with everyone. Sometimes they are new apps, sometimes old standards, but every time they are apps we love to use.
Give these a look and then take a minute to tell us all about the apps you are using and love so we can give them a try. We all find some of our favorites right in the comments on these posts!
Phil Nickinson — The Silent Age
I'm back on the exercise bike again. Every morning, for at least 30 minutes. And while I love a good time-wasting game — something I can put up and put down without too much investment — there's nothing better than something immersive for killing time going nowhere. has been my go-to for that. But some recent downtime sent me searching for something new. And The Silent Age quickly (though briefly) filling that gap. It's your basic tap-and-walk puzzler. The artwork is simple but well done and fits the overall tone of the game. It's sort of a modern-day throwback to the likes of Kings Quest and its ilk. Only with time travel. The storyline is first-class, and the puzzles are a little on the easy side. And the ending felt a little abrupt. The first episode is free, and I couldn't fork over $5 to finish it fast enough. The problem is now I'm done, and I want more.
Russell Holly — Craft Check
I don't do a lot of drinking, and I'm just about as far as you can get from being a beer snob, but I love trying new things. Since I don't know a ton about what goes into this process, I rely fairly heavily on word of mouth and pretty labels to tell me what drinks might be good when roaming the store. One such beverage popped up in a TV commercial recently, and I went and bought some immediately. When handing one to a friend who is a beer snob, I got a 30 minute lecture on why it is bad that mainstream brewing companies are pretending to be craft beer companies with new products, and that the tasty thing in my hand wasn't made by some scrappy upstart like I'd have thought by looking only at the label.
A solution to this problem, if you think you care enough to check in the store, is Craft Check. It's a simple barcode scanner app that lets you know a little background on the company making your potential purchase. If nothing else, it's fun to get some extra information before making the purchase.
<
h2 data-title="Swappa Price">Andrew Martonik — Swappa Price
As we approach another huge set of phone announcements at MWC, now's the time to start formulating a plan for selling your current devices to get together the money for whatever interests you next. Swappa Price is a super simple app that identifies your phone, and lets you know the history of what that model has been selling for on the Swappa marketplace. You can also search for different models if you're interested in buying the devices that are being offloaded around this time.
Unfortunately if you actually want to make a purchase or sale you still have to load up the mobile website (we would hope the app ends up incorporating this), but when it comes to buying or selling used phones it's always great to get as much information as possible. Swappa Price gives you another data point, and makes sure you get a good price for your outgoing phone.
Jen Karner — MARVEL Avengers Academy
I'm not usually drawn to many city builder style games because I generally don't remember to come back to check on my town. I am however a gigantic Marvel fan, and the idea of my favorite heroes as teenagers is amusing enough to draw me in. You'll need to purchase buildings like Stark Tower, The Timeless Archives, and Pym's Lab to fill up the school campus and prepare for the onslaught that HYDRA has thrown at you.
You'll start out with Iron Man, before quickly acquiring Loki and Wasp to start. As you level up you'll be able to add heroes like Black Widow, The Hulk and Captain America to your team. You'll level up by completing small quests on the campus with each member of your team, and getting buildings upgraded. This game is fun, easy to get hooked on, and a ton of fun to play.
Jerry Hildenbrand — Wallapop
I just bought an iPhone 4 for $20. I don't have any need for an iPhone 4, but dude — $20. Someone will want it. I hope.
The important part is how I bought it. Wallapop is an app that lets you post stuff for sale, and people local to you can see it inside the app and then come buy it. It's just like the local newspaper classifieds people used to use. Or a smaller version of Craigslist without the prostitutes. When someone is interested in your listing, they chat with you through the app. No personal data is shared until/unless you want to share it. Then you meet the person with old iPhones in the McDonald's parking lot and make the deal.
Anyhoo, if you love to buy and sell junk (I love it, my wife does not love me loving it) or even stuff that's not junk, give Wallapop a look. If you see me selling an iPhone 4 for only $25, holler.
